Sex and Gender Flashcards
Define Sex:
The biological differences between males and females including chromosomes, hormones and anatomy.
Define Gender:
Psychological and cultural differences between males and females including attitudes, behaviours and social roles.
Define Gender Identity:
an individual’s perception of their own masculinity and/or femininity.
Define Gender Identity Disorder:
strong, persistent feeling of identification with the opposite gender and discomfort with one’s own assigned sex.
Aim of Rubin et al (1977):
If new parents stereotype their babies
Method of Rubin et al (1977):
Parents asked to describe their new born within 24 hours of birth
Results of Rubin et al (1977):
- parents of baby boys described their babies as being alert and strong
- parents of baby girls described their babies as soft and delicate
Conclusion of Rubin et al (1977):
Parents stereotype their children at a very young age even with no stereotypical behaviours shown.
Aim of Seavey et al (1975):
To see whether the gender label attached to a baby affected adult responses
Method of Seavey et al (1975)
A three-month-old infant was dressed in a yellow baby-suit.
-1/3 of the participants were told that the infant was male
-1/3 were told that the infant was female
-1/3 were not given a gender label
Participants were left to interact with the child for three minutes. Also in the room were some toys: a ball, a rag doll and a plastic ring.
Results of Seavey et al (1975):
- Labelled as female: participants more likely to use a doll
- Labelled as male: participants more likely to use a plastic ring
- No gender: female participants interacted far more than males. Gave the baby as sex justified how the baby was perceived physically
Conclusion of Seavey et al (1975):
Adults will interact differently with infants depending on whether they believe they are male or female
Define Sex-Role Stereotypes:
A set of shared expectations that people within a society or culture hold about what is acceptable or usual behaviour for males and females.
What did Ingalhaliker et al. (2014) do?
Studied the brains of 949 young men and women using MRI imaging.
What did Ingalhaliker et al. (2014) find?
They discovered that women’s brains have far better connections between the left and right sides of the brain, while men’s brains display more intense activity within the brain’s individual arts, especially the cerebellum which controls motor skills.
